Abstract
The soil particles can be gathered through physical and/or chemical processes in association with the biological activity, leading to the formation of aggregates. Soil aggregates has several functions in the soil, increasing macroporosity and water circulation – consequently reducing soil erosion and mechanical resistance to root growth, contributing to greater fixation of plants to the soil and absorption of water and nutrients, and protection of intra-aggregate organic matter. The aggregates were initially classified morphologically and in terms of their [...]
Highlights
The link between soil biological activity, soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition and stabilization, and soil aggregation dynamics has been recognized and intensively studied since the 1900s (Six et al, 2002, 2004)
Unit particles in the soil can organize themselves into composite units formed from interactions between physical, chemical, and biological processes, and this process is defined as aggregation, and the end product is soil aggregates (Lepsch, 2011)
From a physical point of view, aggregates can be evaluated for their stability by determining the mean weight diameter (MWD) of the aggregates evaluated by wet sieving (MWDw) or dry sieving (MWDd) (Teixeira et al, 2017)
Summary
The link between soil biological activity, soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition and stabilization, and soil aggregation dynamics has been recognized and intensively studied since the 1900s (Six et al, 2002, 2004). As it does not require sophisticated equipment, and can be applied by non-scientific operators, academics, technicians, or farmers (Lavelle et al, 2020), as well as scholars and connoisseurs of soil science According to their origin or formation pathway, soil aggregates can be classified as physicogenic or of physicogenic origin (resulting from physical and chemical processes in the soil); biogenic, or of biogenic origin (formed by the action of biological agents) (Pulleman et al, 2005; Velasquez et al, 2007) (Figure 1); or intermediates, without evidence of a specific origin (Pulleman et al, 2005).
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